There is almost no scrap too skinny

I know that we all end up with scraps from our quiltmaking, and many times we think the scraps are just too small. Or if you are a longarmer, your customer may not want the trimmings from their quilt back. Or we may send you a top to quilt and there are trimmings left (yes, we want the trimmings sent back to us).

This top isn’t totally pieced yet, but it is made with strips no wider than 2″, except one strip, and as short as about 4″ long. This is just from the yellow scraps that I have. When I finish piecing all the other colors, I will have made about 8 tops just out of these throwaway scraps. Scraps 2 1/4″ and wider are saved for binding (yes I piece all different fabrics in a same colorway to make binding). Strips 3 1/2″ wider are used to make kits in a modified rail fence pattern. Strips narrower than about 3/4″ wide are saved for a lady who stuffs dog beds that she donates to the SPCA. Absolutely nothing goes to waste or in a landfill.

So, if you have these skinny strips, I challenge you to make a top with them and send me a picture to post. Or, if working with strips that small makes you want to scream, or you just throw them out, send the scraps to me. I will make beautiful quilts for the orphaned children in Ethiopia with those scraps. My address is under Pages under Where to send tops… I will post pictures of the quilts I make with your scraps.

Carolyn

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This entry was posted on April 6, 2011 at 1:12 am and is filed under Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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I love your strips/stripes and I’m going to borrow your idea; I’m currently thinking about how I can use the many tiny triangles I have, as well as the little strips. I keep three boxes on my cutting table, one for needles etc to throw away, one for bits to put in one of my three drawers of scraps for later use, and the tiniest bits for stuffing animals and some cushions etc.
This is my introduction to Quilts Beyond Borders, which I got to via my Yahoo Janome group, and I think it is fantastic.
I am currently completing a few quilts for Japan, and will airmail them, at great expense and consigning them to the airlines and postal services to get there. I think QBB is very wise to carry and distribute quilts in person.
Best regards
Janet in New Zealand

Hi Janet, working with little strips can be lots of fun. Glad you can borrow some ideas.Yes, shipping internationally ends up being very expensive. Of course, hand carrying the quilts is very expensive too, but then you are assured that they get to the intended recipients. Good luck with using up your scraps. They seem to multiple faster than they can be used. Carolyn